Heat and Hotheads: The Effect of Rising Temperatures on Urban Unrest

| April 2, 2015 | Leave a Comment

Item Link: Access the Resource

Date of Publication: March 23, 2015

Year of Publication: 2015

Publication City: Washington, DC

Publisher: Wilson Center: New Security Beat

Author(s): Adam Yeeles

Is our growing globe of cities and rapidly changing climate a ticking time bomb of social unrest?

Adam Yeeles reflects on his recent research finding that:

“During warmer months, the likelihood that urban disorder has lethal consequences is several times greater than the likelihood that it is peaceful. This finding is fully consistent with our knowledge of the relationship between temperature and crime, and suggests that warm weather exacerbates interactions between combatants, but does not act as lone trigger for urban social unrest.”

And considers what this may mean  in the context of growing and warming cities.

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